When we boldly pray (obeying Scripture to “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” Heb. 4:16), could our prayers turn into wrongful presumption upon God? Scripture warns this could happen. In James 4:3 we read, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your own pleasures.”
So how do we balance coming to God boldly in prayer, yet not demanding God do what we want? We know we should include “Not my will but yours be done,” as Jesus said (Luke 22:42) when Jesus asked his father to spare him from going to the cross.
Surely good prayers, like praying for someone’s salvation are always good, right? I discussed breaking ungodly soul ties. These occur when a gal was abused or seduced and must not pray for this seductive or abusive person, if doing so keeps her longing for that ungodly relationship or causes her to relive trauma from an abuser. In those rare cases, I discussed having a surrogate prayer warrior pray for that person instead of you. You can read more about that in my post called “Inviting Surrogate Prayer to Break Ungodly Soul Ties.”
You may be surprised to know there was a time when God told a believer to NOT pray for people, not even for their salvation. Jeremiah loved Israel and prophesized to them, yet at one point, God said, “Do not pray for the well being of these people,” (Jer. 14:11). God knew their hearts and knew they would never surrender to the Lord. So how, outside of ungodly soul ties, do we pray?
I believe the answer les in our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Jeremiah completely surrendered his will to the Lord. He adored and obeyed the Lord. Even when he was frustrated, he shared his lament with the Lord, “Righteous are you, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper?” Jer. 12: 1. He complained more, and finally in verses 5-6, the Lord scolded Jeremiah for his complaint. So when he complained unrighteously, the Lord confronted him. Yet when Jeremiah was weary the Lord lifted him up, “Comfort your people” (Jer. 40:1).
Thus Jeremiah modeled the answer to how we can pray boldly before the Lord, and even when we get off course, like Jeremiah did, how to get right back on course. We must be fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Sometimes we may pray in a way the Lord doesn’t want, but the spirit will quickly redirect us. There is no shame in our making errors, because God knows our weaknesses, “We are but dust,” (Psalm 103:14). Jeremiah got redirected too, and he was a godly man. When we have fully surrendered our heart to God he will listen to us, guide us, and our prayers will please him.
Therefore the challenge for boldly praying may lie in our surrender to the Lord. Saying, “God I trust you for everything in my life. I give you everything,” can be terrifying. What if he takes away people or things we love? What if he makes us do scary or downright distasteful things? What if we have pet sins or strong weaknesses we will not or believe we cannot give up?
When these fears cause us to hold back from fully surrendering to the Lord, let’s consider God’s heart, so we can comfort our frightened side that balks at full surrender. The Lord said, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering flax he will not quench,” (Matt. 12:20), meaning the broken heart he will not crush, and the weak faith, (smoldering faith that is weak and not fully on fire for the Lord), he will not put out. God will not condemn, but he will nurture us. He will guide the confused and hurting, as he said he would do: “Bind up the broken hearted,” (Is. 61:1).
Remember, he knows our frail nature. He will work with us. He will not make you change and become someone you are not. Some people claim God will do that, and they base their wrong idea on the time God urged his reluctant prophet Jonah to prophesy to the Ninevite people. Their myth says that a writer has to give up her dreams and instead be some man’s secretary, or a shy gal has to become a preacher, or a talkative gal has to be silenced. God did not change Jonah and force him to stop being a prophet. He simply told Jonah to confront his racial prejudice against a people group who had been cruel to the Israelites. We know Jonah enjoyed prophesizing. He also prophesized in 2Kings 14:23-25. He thrived as a prophet. So don’t let people misuse the Bible to try to force you to give up your dreams. When you surrender to God, he does not call you to give up the dreams of who God made you to be. He may just ask you to redirect your attention, as God did with Jonah while still allowing Jonah to do the work he was made to do. We would not have read Jonah’s book, if he had not been willing to tell the story after it happened. You still get to be you, and you get to keep your personality and use the talents God gave you.
What about pet sins or your weaknesses? God actually wants to help you. And some sins don’t go away overnight (impatience, over eating, temper, etc.) We have slip ups, even when we do surrender to the Lord. He doesn’t beat us over the head. We just need to keep surrendering our will to the Lord. He is a safe haven for us. He will never let us down.
So surrender your heart fully to the Lord. Then pray boldly and rest assured God is listening, and he will act upon your prayers. I really mean that. Ask for things you and your loved ones need, even very big things. Ask for help when you just cannot figure something out. Ask often, and even ask for very small things! I was doing a craft project (for my daughters’ birthday gifts), and it went badly awry, yet the birthday was coming up, and there was time and money spent on the project. I begged God to guide me, and he put an idea in my mind that enabled me to rescue the two damaged items. They were fixed. Small prayers are not too small too. Answers may take a long time, and sometimes God may redirect your prayer, but he is listening, and he is pleased with you.
Thank you for joining us in this post. My friend, Holly, and I discussed this topic last week. She had such great ideas, she inspired me to write this post, and I used some of her ideas too! I hope this fact also inspires you. As you live your Christian faith, you are encouraging others, so keep telling others your ideas. Keep asking questions and discussing what you learned. Your ideas are great, and our world needs to hear them